Blogs from Andhra Pradesh, India, Asia - page 4

"All power is within you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in that." - Swami Vivekananda Primary Health Care: July 14-19, 2014 On our first day at CHAI headquarters, we were told that India is like 2 countries in 1. One country that houses the wealthy and prosperous while the other that shelters the poor and needy. It is a curious thing to be driving down the street and see a beautiful glass building that allows you to see the expensive cars for sale in it's interior right beside a row of shelters half caved in and homes made from tarps. Poverty is real. Taking the form of beggars knocking on your car window, children prancing around in costumes asking for money if you take a photo and cripples curled up on the side of ... read more

"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centred. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favour underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you’ll ... read more

Hi folks. settling in to a wee routine now and beginning to get to know all the dogs. The center has roughly 22 resident dogs who are not kennelled but wander freely about the area, they come and go as they please and normally at feeding times there are several more waiting at the gates to get fed. Most of the dogs that stay at the center have lost limbs or their back legs are paralysed. These are the ones that are bandaged regularly to help prevent infection of cuts and sores, it is amazing how cooperative the majority of the dogs are and not just the ones who are tended to daily. The out patient clinic is always busy, locals bringing their pets and livestock too for attention (at no cost). I saw my first ... read more

Hi all arrived here in the early hours of Tuesday morning, half an hour away from my lovely hotel. Didn't take in much on the way there except that I was aware of lots on new building sites and road works. Took a tuk tuk in the morning to see the surrounding area. I knew the city was big as it's the cyber capital of India, but was in for a big shock. I could not believe the amount of people and traffic about, I have never seen anything like it, not even in Kathmandu! it was like something out of the wacky races. I am sure there are rules of the road but no-one seems to follow them. Five and six lanes of traffic all jostling to get ahead of each other, beeping horns,the noise ... read more

Hyderabad was the capital of the largest princely state in India under the Raj, ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad, the last two Nizams being the wealthiest men in the world in the mid 20th century. The old town is dominated by the Char Minar, a four towered structure built in 1591. There are also numerous mausoleums around town, together with palaces and museums showing the wealth of the Nizams who ruled Hyderabad from 1724 until 1948 when the princely state was absorbed into the newly formed Republic of India. Next to the Char Minar is the mosque. Hindu women were allowed in wearing saris with bare heads, arms and midriffs, but Sara was pulled to one side and had her headscarf (already wrapped round her head) rewrapped on the grounds she was not decently covered. ... read more